Melissa Gira

If [the old wooden radio cabinet] had been newer it would probably have been Bakelite molded into that universal design idiom of the ‘Thirties: Streamlining. This smooth swept-back look was logical for automobiles and locomotive engines, but throughout the ’Thirties streamlining was applied to all kinds of products and articles, even the least appropriate: toasters, lamps and handbag clasps were streamlined, as well as book ends, exit signs, money clips, barrettes for girls’ hair, ashtrays, facades of buildings…all sorts of things were designed to come flying at you through the air. No wonder it was a nervous decade.